Transforming Funder and Evaluator Relationships for a More Equitable and Effective Field – Session 1 

Learning and evaluation — the “R&D” of the social sector — are critical functions for foundations seeking to maximize their impact. By supporting innovation, adaptation, and continuous improvement processes, learning and evaluation helps organizations get closer to the changes they seek. Today, funders and evaluators are asking themselves how they can meet the tremendous challenges of this moment.

The Funder & Evaluator Affinity Network (FEAN) is a collective effort to deepen the impact of evaluation on philanthropic practice by transforming how funders and evaluators collaborate. In the fall of 2019, five Action Teams of volunteers from FEAN membership assembled around practice areas chosen collaboratively as areas in the field most urgently in need of change: Strategy & Practice, Evaluators of Color, Knowledge Sharing, Global Challenges, and Collaboration & Partnership. Over the course of 2019 and 2020, the five teams developed a suite of products — briefs, open letters, and more — as a “Call to Action."   

In a two-webinar series, the authors of the Call to Action products will present the five issues and propose actionable strategies for addressing them, then facilitate lively discussions of next steps, implementation ideas, and challenges in small breakout groups.

This first session will focus on knowledge-sharing, evaluator collaborations, and ways to strengthen the ecosystem of evaluators working on global transformation.

• Knowledge Sharing is a Mission Imperative: Why We Cannot Afford to Keep Evaluation Findings to Ourselves and How We Can Do Better
• Better Together: How Evaluator Collaborations Can Strengthen Philanthropy and Increase Collective Knowledge
• Advancing Evaluation Practice to Meet Global Challenges: A Call to Action and Reflection

Session 2 on July 15, will focus on actionable strategies to make evaluations more useful to philanthropy and to help evaluators of color thrive. You are welcome to attend one or both webinar sessions.

Audience:

Program staff of grantmaking institutions and learning/evaluation/strategy officers and consultants are strongly encouraged to attend.  

Program Goals:  

• Share the FEAN Call to Action series and the urgent issues in philanthropic evaluation they highlight
• Propose actions funders and evaluators can introduce in their practice and workplaces
• Discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by the issues, the strategies, and deeper partnerships between funders and evaluators.

Facilitators: Pilar Mendoza, Engage R&D and Carise Mitch, Equal Measure

Presenters:

• Yvonne Belanger, Barr Foundation
• Heather Britt, NORC at the University of Chicago
• Janet Camarena, Candid
• Rachel Mosher-Williams, RMW Consulting Group, LLC
• Karuna Sridharan Chibber DrPH, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation